


Our Family

by Aeradae



Series: Cullrian One-shots [13]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Extended Families, First Christmas, Fluff, M/M, What's Best For Them, cullrian - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-14
Updated: 2016-02-14
Packaged: 2018-05-20 16:45:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,584
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6017071
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aeradae/pseuds/Aeradae
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>[What's Best For Them] [Modern AU] Cullen, Dorian, and their daughters happily muddle their way through their first Christmas together.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Our Family

**Author's Note:**

  * For [redluna](https://archiveofourown.org/users/redluna/gifts).



> This collab was done for redxluna, the second place winner of the Christmas Giveaway I did with digiplease over on tumblr. This is based on my verse What's Best For Them, as requested.

Adorable artwork made by the talented [digiplease](http://www.digiplease.tumblr.com) and used with her permission!

\---

To say the kitchen was a disaster was an understatement. Between Cullen preparing the turkey and sides that were accompanying it and Dorian making desserts, the counters were brimming with dirty dishes and leftover ingredients. “How are we ever going to clean this all up?” Cullen lamented as he looked at the mess in horror.

“Don’t worry, we’ll manage,” Dorian soothed with a reassuring smile, absently leaning over to pat Cullen’s cheek. His smile turned into sudden laughter as he caught a glimpse of Cullen’s face. Dorian had just been rolling out pastry dough, and had forgotten that his hands were still covered in flour. Cullen was now sporting a white handprint across one side of his face.

“What’s so funny?” Cullen asked, confused.

“You’ve, um, got something on your face,” Dorian choked out through his laughter as he handed him a clean dish towel and went to wash his hands.

“Seriously?!” Cullen sighed as he wiped at his face. “Did I get it all?” he asked after a moment, turning his face so that Dorian could inspect it.

“You’ve missed a spot, just right here,” Dorian murmured, inching close to brush away the last bit of flour from Cullen’s cheek.

“If I didn’t know better I would say you did that on purpose.” Cullen’s raised an eyebrow even as he leaned into Dorian’s touch.

“Me? I would never do such a thing.”

Cullen grinned. “So you weren’t looking for any excuse to get closer so you could kiss me?”

Dorian leaned in a bit further until their noses almost brushed. “That’s hardly a fair argument because I always want to kiss you,” he murmured.

“True enough, I suppose.” Cullen wrapped an arm around Dorian’s waist and pulled him close for a soft, affectionate kiss. He could feel Dorian’s smile against his lips.

Sierra giggled at them from the living room. “I thought you were making dessert, papa?”

“She’s definitely your child, sass and all.” Cullen pressed a final kiss to Dorian’s cheek before letting him go and moving towards the oven to check on the turkey.

\---

The dogs began to bark as the doorbell rang. Cullen went to quiet them as Dorian answered the door.

“Hi, Dorian!” Paige squeaked as she launched herself at his legs.

“Why hello there, goldilocks.” Dorian bent down to return her embrace before lifting her into his arms and settling her against his hip. “Hello, Malyse,” he added as he turned his attention to Cullen’s ex-wife.

“Hi, Dorian. Where has Cullen gotten to?”

“I’m right here.” Cullen popped his head around the corner as he heard his name being mentioned.

“Daddy!” One arm still around Dorian’s neck, she threw the other around Cullen’s as he came up behind Dorian, nestling her head between the two of them.

Cullen smiled and kissed Paige's head. “Hello, you.”

“Paige, come here!” Sierra squealed from the living room. The dogs sensed her excitement and began to bark again.

“Would you take her inside and calm the dogs down before the neighbours lose their minds, please?”

“Before Sierra loses her mind too, apparently.” He took Paige over to give Malyse a kiss goodbye.

“Be good, Paige, alright?” Malyse murmured, gently squeezing Paige’s cheek.

“Always, mommy. See you tomorrow.”

“Nice to see you, Malyse. I’ll meet you in there, Cullen.” Dorian pressed a quick kiss to Cullen’s temple as he passed before disappearing into the house with Paige.

A fond smile formed on Cullen’s lips as he watched them go inside.

“You really love him, don’t you?” Malyse asked softly.

Cullen blinked. He had almost forgotten she was standing there. “I… uh…”

“I can see it in your eyes when you look at him, and when he looks at you.”

Cullen rubbed at the back of his neck, a slight blush forming on his cheeks. “He’s been really good to Paige and me, and he’s been there for me through all of… well, all of this.”

Malyse nodded. “As long as he is good to Paige, and to you.” She smiled slightly, and it was the first genuine one Cullen had seen her wear in a very long time. She shook her head after a moment as she realized she was still holding Paige’s things, holding them out for Cullen. “I was going to come back around eleven tomorrow, is that alright?”

Cullen nodded. “We’ll have her ready by then. Have a Merry Christmas, Malyse.”

“Merry Christmas, Cullen.”

\---

Dinner had been consumed, dessert was in the oven, and most of the kitchen had been tidied up or left to soak. The four of them lounged in the living room next to the Christmas tree, drinking mugs of hot chocolate topped with whipped cream and sprinkles.

“Are we opening presents now?” Sierra asked as she carefully set her mug to the side.

“But it’s not Christmas yet.” Paige looked at Sierra in confusion.

“We always open presents on Christmas Eve.” It was Sierra’s turn to be confused.

Paige looked over at Cullen from her place on the floor at Kipper’s side. “Daddy, I thought presents could only be opened on Christmas?”

“Not necessarily, Paige. It depends on the family.” Cullen turned to Dorian. “I didn’t even think to ask when you usually open gifts.”

“I didn’t think about it either. What do you think we should do?”

“Maybe we could open some now and some in the morning?” Cullen suggested.

Dorian nodded. “I think that would work best. Paige why don’t you find the present you and your dad picked out for Sierra and Sierra find the present we picked out for Paige and you can open those first?”

Paige and Sierra hunted around the tree for the gifts, pushing aside the dogs who wanted to help search but ended up getting in the way. When they finally found them they handed their gifts to each other and sat expectantly.

“Who opens first, or should we open at the same time?” Sierra asked.

“You can open yours first, Sierra.” Paige set her gift off to the side.

“Are you sure?” Paige nodded encouragingly at her. “Okay!” Sierra found a corner and carefully began to pull open the wrapping paper.

“You never did tell me what you got her,” Dorian whispered to Cullen as they watched.

“That’s because it’s a secret,” Cullen replied with a wink. Dorian rolled his eyes and swatted at his arm lightly.

Sierra gasped at the box in her lap, drawing their attention back to her. “Daddy, did we…?”

Dorian’s eyes widened as he saw it. “I’m not sure, my love. Paige, why don’t you open yours?”

Cullen looked at the two of them with a frown. “What’s the matter?”

“I’m not sure if anything is wrong just yet. Let’s just let Paige open hers first, yes?”

Paige ripped into her present with a lot less elegance and patience than Sierra had. She squealed with laughter when she saw what was inside.

“Paige, can you show me what you got?” Dorian asked, leaning forward. She tilted her box up so that he could see. He began to laugh as well. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” he huffed.

Cullen shook his head, a big grin on his face, as he compared the two gifts. They had unknowingly picked out the same purses for each other except for the colour of the nugs splashed across the sides.

“Hey, we match now!” Paige crowed excitedly as she set her purse next to Sierra’s.

“That’s so cool!”

“Well, I suppose we don’t have to worry about returning anything then,” Dorian murmured to Cullen.

Cullen chuckled and put an arm around Dorian’s shoulders. “I suppose they’re more alike than we thought.”

“Almost too much alike. It’s a bit scary, sometimes.” Dorian pressed a kiss to Cullen’s cheek. “Say, girls, do you think we should give Cullen his gift tonight? I’m really excited for him to see it.”

“Yes!” they both cried, scrambling to their feet to find it.

“What, no, I can wait until tomorrow,” Cullen protested as they carried the gift over to him and set it in his lap. It felt quite heavy.

“We would really like it if you opened it now, my love,” Dorian insisted earnestly as he shifted his body to face Cullen.

  
“Alright, alright, I’ll open it now.” Cullen began to work at the wrapping paper.

“A bit of background on this before you finish. The girls and I know that you’ve had a very rough year, so we wanted to do something extra special for you. Paige thought you might really like this.”

A soft gasp escaped Cullen’s lips as he pulled open the box beneath the paper. It was a photo album with “Our Family” embossed on the front. He carefully took it out of the box and slowly began to flip through it. He felt himself tearing up as he looked at the collection of photos they had taken together over the past year, put in chronological order as best they could.

“Do you like it, daddy? We wanted you to have something to make you happy.” Paige and Sierra stood in front of him expectantly.

Cullen wiped at his eyes and smiled. “I love it, I really do.” He pulled both the girls into his lap and kissed their cheeks before reaching over to take Dorian’s hand. “Even though all the happiness I could ever need is right here in this room with me.”


End file.
